Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Prosecutor's Office wears purple in support of Overdose Awareness Week
Members of the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office wore purple Thursday in support of overdose awareness efforts in the community.
This week is Overdose Awareness Week, which addresses the devastation caused by illegal narcotics usage in Muskingum County.
Drug addiction tears families apart, ruins lives and wreaks havoc on the community. But there is hope.
Drug Free Muskingum has spent the week sharing stories of overdoses and educating the public on ways to identify drug use and prevent such tragedies.
The Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office believes firmly in educating the community about drugs, starting with school-aged children. Prosecutor Ron Welch recently donated $1,400 to Muskingum Behavioral Health to provide kindergarten through eighth grade students with drug education workbooks.
Additionally, the prosecutor’s office provided all area high schools with handouts detailing the dangers of fentanyl.
Finally, the prosecutor’s office continues to assist low level offenders through a diversion program designed to get people back on the path of productivity.
“Our office believes in attacking the drug issue using education, prevention and punishment,” Prosecutor Ron Welch said. “Each of these methods need to be used to make certain our community is as safe as possible.”
Education and prevention are the first steps to combating drug addiction, but when that doesn’t work, punishment is the next solution.
The Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office aggressively seeks justice for overdose victims in the prosecution of their drug dealers who prey upon addiction for personal gain.
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